Apparatus for making shoes



Jan. 2, 1940. w DUNN I 2,185,941

APPARATUS FOR MAKING SHOES Filed-Sept. 10, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet l v INVENTOR 2 By ALZEIgl/NN I 'TTOR 35 y:

Jan. 2, 1940.. AWDUNN 9 2,185,941

APPARATUS FOR MAKING SHOES Filed Sept. 10. 1957 5- Sheets- Sheet 2 FIG .INVENTOR ATT RNEY Jan. 2, 1940. v A. w. DUNN APPARATUS FOR MAKING SHOES Filed Sept. 10, 1937' 3 Sheets-Sheet. 3

Patented Jan. 2 1940 APPARATUS FOR MAKING SHOES Alfred W. Dunn, Rochester, N. Y., assignor of one-half to Frederick S. Elam, Rochester,

Application September 10, 1937, Serial No. 163,213

shoes and has (for its principal object to provide a simple and easily operated apparatus with which the sole is quickly and efliciently applied at g a low cost to the upper of the shoe. I

Another object of this invention is to provide an apparatus which is especially adapted for the attachment of a sole in the manufacture of so called prewelt" shoes, in which the welt is 1 stitched to the upper, then lasted and supported on the last while the-outer sole is cemented or otherwise fastened to the welt.

i A further object of this invention is to provide the apparatus with a novel sole applying mechll anism with which the sole is automatically placed and quickly applied to the welt.

A still further object of this invention is to pro vide a sole applying apparatus which may be quickly and easily adjusted for use with varying 20 sizes of shoes. i

All these and other objects of this invention will become more readily apparent from the de tailed description thereof which follows, reference being had to the accompanying drawings in 85 which Figure 1 is a top plan view of the apparatus.

Figure 2 is a top plan .view of the lasting table of the apparatus with the table top removed therefrom.

Figure 3 is a vertical longitudinal section of the lasting table taken on the line 31-35:: of

Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a vertical crosssection of the last- I ing. table, the section being taken on the line 4H1: of Figure 3; Figure 5'is an end elevation of the apparatus. Figure 6 is a plan view of the sole locating and applying mechanism. a Figure 7 is a sectional view of the sole locatln r and applying mechanism taken on the line Ix-1a:

of Figure 5.

Figure 8 is a sectional view of one of the fingers of the sole locating and applying mechanism the section being taken on the line 8:c8:z: of Figure 7. I Figure 9 is a longitudinal sectional view of the upper of a shoe with the welt stitched thereto prior to being lasted.

Figure 10 is a similar sectional view of the upper and welt after being temporarily lasted and supported on the last with an insole and filler covering the bottom of the last.

Figure 11 is a sectional view of the upper as it appears on the last after the upper is lasted by u the apparatus andthe outer sole fastened to its welt and the combined insole and filler fastened to the sole.

In the several figures of the drawings like reference numerals indicate like parts.

The apparatus, forming the subject matter of 5 my present invention, is especially adapted for use in the manufacture of "prewelt shoes in which, as illustrated in Figure 9, the upper I has stitched thereto the welt 2 before the shoe is lasted. After the welt has been applied, the last 3 is inserted into the upper and the prewelted edge drawn up thereon so as to have the welt project outwardly from the upper, in which position it is temporarily fastened to the last by means of a tack 4. An insole 5 has been previously tacked 15 to the bottom of the last to have the filler 6, which is attached to the insole,-surrounded by the inner edge of the welt and insole. With the upper welt temporarily tacked thereto and supported thereonand the insole and filler separately attached thereto, the last is placed and supported in my apparatus to have the upper operated upon by having clamping members or wipers engage it under the welt to permit the withdrawal of the tack 4 and then uniformly drawing the prewelted edge of the upper over the bottom edge of the last and the edge of the insole 5 and holding the upper in this lasted position. The tacks which hold the insole and filler to thebottom of the last are then withdrawn and the outer sole I positioned over the upper against the welt for its attachment thereto and to the filler 6.

The mechanism, which is operatedito do this work quickly and efliciently, is supported on the g upright 8 which in turn is suitably mounted on a base (not shown) provided at the bottom thereof. A housing 9 at the top of the upright encases the mechanism and its cover plate It! provides a table top for the apparatus. Centrally located in the 40 table top is an opening II which has substantially the outline of an enlarged sole of the type which is applied to the shoes. Within and directly below the table top are located and grouped a series of clamping members or wipers which, in their outline, complement each other to provide a normally enlarged but otherwise substantially true outline of the bottom of the last so as to receive the temporarily lasted shoe upper and by movement of all but one of the members or wipers is reduced to have the clamping members or wipers engage under the welt and draw the upper over the last to its proper size and hold them in this contracted position while an outer sole is attached thereto. u

The clamping members orwipers include the adjustable but otherwise fixed heel engaging member [2, the adjustable and sliding toe engaging member l3, the sliding side engaging members I4 and I5 which are moved by a treadle which also affords a common drive for. the toe engaging member, the swinging heel engaging members I6 and H which are carried by and adjustable with the normally stationary 'heel engaging member. l2 but are operated by the side engaging members l4 and I5, and the swinging toe engaging members l8 and I9. The latter are carried by and adjusted with the toe engaging member l3 and move therewith in addition to being moved by the side engaging members I4 and 15.

The heel end engaging member l2 comprises a plate with a segmental recess formed in the end thereof and the edge of the recess tapered for engagement into the V groove formed around the upper by the attachment of the welt thereto. The heel engaging member is carried by the slide member 20 which is adjustable endwise in the top of the housing 9 below the cover plate II]. A lug 2| is carried on the under side of the slide member and has the feed screw 22 threaded thereinto while it is suitably journaled on the housing and is rotated by the hand wheel 23 to provide for a ready adjustment of the heel end engaging member 12 for the predetermined location of this member for the various sizes of shoes that are to be operated upon in the apparatus. A pointer 26 is carried by the slide member 20 within the opening 25 in the cover plate and a suitable scale 26 provided along one edge of this opening cooperates with the pointer to indicate the size for which the heel end engaging member is adjusted.

The swinging supplementary heel end engag-' ing members it and W are pivotally mounted at 27 and 28 on the cross bar 29. The latter is suitably carried by the slide member 20' so as to move therewith and keep the members [6 and IT in. the same relative position to the member It for any adjustment thereof. The clamping edge of the members it and l! is thin and has a contour which provides a continuation of the segmental recess in the heel end engaging member l2 and with said member substantially encircles the heel end or a shoe between the welt and the upper when inserted into the apparatus.

As above described, the toe end engaging member I3 is adjustable as well as otherwise movable. I'he toe end engaging member comprises a plate with a segmental recess at the outer edge for engagement into the V groove formed around the upper by the attachment of the welt. This plate is suitably attached to the slide 30 so as to form a part thereof. The slide 30 is mounted on top of the guide member 3| so as to move therewith when the latter is moved irT tiie end of the housing 9. An adjustment of the slide 30 on the guide member is provided by the feed screw 32 which is journaled and held'against endwise movement in the lug 33 carried by the slide and is threaded into the guide member so that the rotation of the feed screw by means of the hand wheel 34 causesthe slide to move on the guide member for adjustment of the toe end engaging member l3 and its supplementary clamping members [8 and I9 to the particular size shoe which is to be operated upon in the apparatus.

A pointer is carried by the slide 30 and projects thru the opening 35A in the cover plate so that by means of the scale 36 along one side justed for operation on the same size shoe.

The clamping members or wipers l4 and it which engage the side of the shoe in lasting the upper are jointly operated by the movement of the guide member 3|. For this purpose a cross member 31 is carried by the guide member and has fastened to the outer ends the rods 38 and 39. These rods are each suitably guided in a straight line motion and carry the rollers 40 and 4| which project into the angular cam slots 42 and 48 respectively provided in the transversely moving slides 44 and 45. In this way the endwise movement of the rods 38 and 39 by the guide member 3| to the left in Figure 2 causes the transversely moving slides 44 and and with them the side clamping or engaging members I4 and i5 to move inwardly for the engagement of the upper and release the upper on the return movement of the rods 38 and 39 by the guide member 3| to the right in Figure 2.

To support the last with the upper in the apparatus for the lasting operation, the slide member.20 carries on its under side the bracket 66. This bracket extends into the housing 9 and its outer free end is adapted to have a supporting pin 41 move vertically up and down therein. The lower end of this pin which projects below the bracket rests on the inclined stationary cam M which is located within the housing so that as the bracket 46 is moved in the adjustment of the slide member 20 the supporting pin rides up or down the inclined cam 58 to have its upper supporting end raised or lowered for the support of diflerent sizes of lasts and their uppers. Thus when the heel clamping member i2 is moved to the, left in Figures 1 and 2 for the operation on a larger size last and upper, the supporting pin rides down the incline of the cam 48 to corre spondingly increase the space between its upper supporting end and the clamping members. In this way a correspondingly larger last can then be supported on top of the supporting pin.

In order to compensate for any variations in the height of lasts, the top of the pin d? is made adjustable so that its length may be increased or decreased. For this purpose the screw extension 4'l'A is threaded into the top of the pin M and is adjustably locked thereto by means oi the locknut 5TB. At the top of this screw is provided the supporting head 61C on which the last is adapted to rest. In order to keep the pin 41 from turning when the extension is threaded up or down thereon on the adjustment thereof, a guide pin @ID projects from the side thereof into the vertical guide slot ME to thus permit but a vertical movement of the pin Q'l in the bracket 46.

Each of the side clamping members it and it. carries a pair of pinsg and 50 and the swinging clamping members 16 and I8 on top of one of the side clamping members, and the swinging clamping members I! and 19 on top of the other side clamping members are normally drawn outwardly by suitable springs 5| and 52 respectively to have the rear of these clamping members yieldingly engage these pins. In this way the inward movement of the side clamping members I4 and I5 causes the swinging members I6 to ID inclusive to be jointly swung in by the movement of the pins 49 and 50 against the back of these swinging clamping members to retain a substantially continuous contour for uniformly engaging into the groove between the welt and upper and effect an even clamping and drawing of the upper on the last on the inward movement of these members. In the outward movement the swinging clamping members I6 to l9 are caused to follow the outward movement of the side clamping members I! and I5 by the action of the springs 5i and 52 to thus simultaneously release the upper and welt on the withdrawal of the side and toe clamping members.

The movement of the guide member 3| which,

as above pointed out, brings about the movement of the clamping members or wipers, except that of the heel member l2, for the purpose of drawing the upper and welt in place over the last prior to the attachment of the outer sole to the welt, is provided by the bell crank 5, link 55 and treadle 56. The latter is suitably mounted at or near the base of the upright 8 so that by stepping on it, the link 55 is pulled down against the pressure of the spring 51 which surrounds the upper end thereof and acts to return the mechanism to its normal starting position after the treadle is released. The link 55 is pivotally attached to one end of the bell crank 54 while the other end of the bell crank slidably engages into the bifurcated end of the lug 58 which depends from the guide member 3 I. Depressing the treadle thus swings the bell crank to move the guide member and causes it to operate the clamping members to engage under the welt of a'shoe placed into the apparatus and draws the upper over the edge of the last on which it is supported.

The treadle is held depresed to hold the upper in this position until an outer sole'is applied to the welt as will presently appear.

The rear or heel portion of the last is supported in the apparatus on the supporting pin 41 as above pointed out in order to support the back of the upper and welt in the proper elevation with relation to the clamping members which engage under the welt. To supplement'this support at the front or toe end of the shoe, a toe supporting cushion 59 is located in front and below the toe engaging member l3. This cushion is mounted on a supporting plate 60 which in turn is suspended from the under side of the plate l3 by means of a pair of pins 6|, SI and yieldingly forced downwardly thereon by means of springs 52 which surround the pins and rest on the supporting plate 60.

An adjustable but otherwise fixed supportingrest for the cushion 59 is provided by the bracket after appear.

end of varying sizes of uppers supported on their last and holding the upper and welt elevated for engagement by the clamping members which operate on the toe end of the upper and welt. An adjustment to compensate for varying thickable supporting cushion.

After the upper is drawn over the last by the clamping members, as above described, it is held in the lasted position while the outer sole is applied to the welt.

bottom of the last so that indrawing the upper over the last it is also drawn over the edge of the insole. The filler on top of the insole then substantially fills the space surrounded by the in- .wardly facing edges of the upper and welt. In

this way the top of the filler is substantially level with the upper face of the welt causing the outer sole to be attached to both the filler and the welt when placed thereover-with a cement coating.

The automatically locating and cementin g of the outer sole to the lasted upper held in the apparatus is performed by the sole placing and applying mechanism which forms part of the apparatus'and is suitably mounted to the housing on one side thereof as illustrated in Figures 1 and 5. This mechanism comprises a pressure ,plate 66 which is supported on a pair of arms 61 and 68 that project from the hub 59. The latter is mounted to oscillate on the pivot shaft Ill which is held between the brackets 'II, II. A segmental gear 12 is formed on the hub between the arms 61 and 58 and mesheswith another segmental gear- 13 mounted to swing on the pivot shaft 13A in back of the pressure plate 65. The segmental gear I3 is provided with a bifurcated radial arm I4 by means of which the segmental gear is operated to oscillate the segmental gear I2 and swing the pressure plate 66v forward and back to apply a sole to the lasted upper as will herein- For this purpose the upper end of the swinging lever arm I5 engages the bifurcated arm 14 and on its swinging movement slides back and forth therein effecting a variable movement for the segmental gears I2 and I3 in swinging the-pressure plate toward the prewelted upper. I p

This is made possible because the active leverage of the bifurcated arm I4, which is at its maximum at the beginning of its movement, is shortened as the connecting end of the lever arm I5 moves in the bifurcation toward the center of rotation of'the arm I4 and increases again as the point of connection moves away from the center of rotation of the arm I4 during the final movement of the lever arm I5 in the same direction in its operation of the pressure plate toward the prewelted upper.

In the operation of the pressure plate it is thus moved with a maximum leverage and a correspondingly slow motion to facilitate the starting of the pressure plate and the speed of its movement is gradually increasedto gain momentum for the pressure plate before it applies the sole as will hereinafter appear. The momentum of the pressure plate carries it to the end of its movement while the leverage of the arm 14 is again increased so that a maximum pressure is exerted on the pressure plate and in turn the sole applied thereby at the end of the movement of the crank handle 50. For the return movement the starting of the pressure plate is again facilitated by the increased leverage of the arm nesses in the last is also'provided by this mov- As previously pointed out an insole and filler is temporarily tacked to the ll at the beginning of its return movement by the lever arm 15 as set forth above.

The swinging arm 15 is pivoted at 16 and a link 11 connects the lower portion of the arm with the swinging arm I8 keyed to the shaft 19. The latter is suitably journaled and extends to one side of the pressure plate and the table top 10 where it has the crank handle keyed thereto for the oscillation thereof. In this way the forward swinging of the handle by the operator causes the pressure plate 66 to be swung forward and apply a sole with a heavy blow and maximum pressure. The end of the forward movement of the pressure plate is cushioned and for this purpose the extension 8! of the tension spring 82 passes thru the pin 89 carried by the lower end of the swinging arm 18. On this extension is adjustably fastened a stop 89 so that as the pin 83 slides on the extension 8| it encounters the stop so that a further movement of the arm causes an expansion of the spring with a resultant cushioning eiiect on the last part of the forward movement of the pressure plate. The stretching of the spring also causes it to start the return movement of the pressure plate and assiststhe operator to move the handle crank for the return movement of the pressure plate to its starting position. The end of the return movement is cushioned by the spring 85 which is stretched between the swinging arm 18 and a stationary part of the mechanism so that this spring is expanded on the return movement of the pressure plate by the crank handle.-

The pressure plate has yieldingly supported thereon by means of the springs 96 the plate 8? and on this plate is mounted the yielding pressure block 88. In the plate 8? and partially extending into the pressure block 89 are the two longitudinal slots 89, 89 and the four transverse slots 99, 99. Thru these slots project the holding fingers 9i and 92 respectively which are adapted to engage and hold the ends and the sides of the sole before and during its application to the welt. The holding fingers 9 I, 9| are mounted on the longitudinal slide members 93, 93 and the latter are engaged to be moved back and forth in the pressure plate 66 by means of the swinging levers 94 and 95. The lever 95 carries at its lower free end an antifriction roller 95A which, when the pressure plate is swung back from its sole applying position to its normal starting position, rolls down the stationary inclined cam 91 and rocks the lever 94 to cause it to move the slide member 93 with which it is connected to the right in Figures 1 and 6. The lever 94 is connected with the lever 95 by the link 96 in such a manner that the outward swinging of the lever 94 will also effect an.

outward swinging of the lever 95 and move its slide member 93 to the left in Figures 1 and 6 so that both fingers 9|, 9| are simultaneously moved to opposite sides of the pressure blocks 88.

The longitudinally moving slide member 93, at the right in Figure '7, has a cam extension in which are provided the angular cam slots 91 and 98. Each of the transversely moving sliding members 99, 99 carries a suitable roller I00 at the under side for engagement with the cam slots 9'6 and 98 respectively so that the endwise or longitudinal movement of the slide member 93 causes a transverse movement of the slide members 99, 99 toward or away from each other. The holding fingers 92 are mounted on cross bars l0! carried by the transverse sliding members so that the opposing fingers 92 simultaneously move toward or away from each other on the movement of the move toward or away from the pressure block 89.

Each of the holding fingers is yieldingly collap- .sible and for this purpose has a plunger I92 formed thereon and slidably mounted in the socket I03 formed in the base of the finger. A spring I94 surrounds the lower portion of the finger and expands against the bottom of the plunger to yieldingly hold the finger in a normally extended position.

In the operation of the sole applying mechanism the cement coated outer sole 1 to be applied is placed against the pressure block 88 with its coated side facing outwardly and its edge resting on and between two of the holding fingers 92 as illustrated in Figures 1, 5 and 6. This done, the operator draws the crank handle 89 forward to swing the pressure plate over the table top and the lasted upper held in place therein. During the first portion of this movement of the pres-,

sure plate the roller 95A moves up on the incline of the cam 97 so that the spring I99, which yieldingly connects the levers 96 and 95 can swing these levers inwardly toward each other and move the spring'flngers 9i against the heel and toe end of the sole 71 while the spring fingers 92 move in against the sides so as to move and center the sole on the pressure block and hold it centered thereon. In this way the sole is centered and held on the pressure block before the pressure plate has been moved from its rearwardly angular starting position to a vertical position in order to prevent the sole from drop-' ping off the pressure block.

When the sole is centered on the pressure block -it is also centered with relation to the upper and welt held in place in the table top of the apparatus. In swinging down over the table top 'the pressure plate thus deposits the sole in its proper position on the welt and causes the pressure exerted by the pressure block to uniformly force the cemented surface of the sole into contact with the cemented surface of the welt and the filler. The adhesion between the sole and the welt and filler is thus made uniform and practically instantaneous so that on the withdrawal of the pressure plate the sole will slip from between the holding fingers and remain fastened to the welt. The holding fingers will again move away from the pressure block on the last portion of the return movement to permit the placing of the sole for the next operation.

The lasting machine forming part of the disclosure not claimed herein is the subject matter of a divisional application Serial No. 261,394, filed March 11, 1939.

I claim:

1. In an apparatus of. the class described, the combination of an adjustably movable end clamping member, an adjustably movable and operatively movable end clamping member opposite to and movable toward and away from said first end clamping member, operatively movable side clamping members, means for operatively moving said side clamping members and said'second end clamping member in unison, supplementary clamping members operatively connected with said first end clamping members for adjustment therewith and operatively connected with said side clamping members for movement thereby and supplementary clamping members operatively connected with said second end clamping member for adjustment therewith and operatively connected with said side clamping members for 7;

areas movement thereby, a supporting bracket carried by said adiustably movable clamping member. afixed cam, a last supporting pin carried by said bracket and movable over said cam on the adjustment of said adjustably movable clamping member so as to simultaneously raise and lower said supporting pin relative to said' clamping members. I

2. In an apparatus of the class described and including a table top with an opening therein and clamping members movably grouped in said opening for holding a lasted upper in a predetermined position, the combination of a pressure member mounted to swing toward and away from said opening, gripping fingers movable on said pressure member to receive, center and grip a sole between them and means operated on the movement of said pressure member for the movement of said fingers.

3. In an apparatus of the class described including a sole applying mechanism comprising a table top and shoe upper holding means provided in a predetermined position relative to said table top, an arm mounted to swing toward and away from said holding 'means, a segmental gear carried by said arm, a second segmental gearadapted to mesh with said first segmental gear, a bifurc'ated radial arm carried by said second segmental gear, a lever arm engaging into the bi iurcation of said radial arm and mounted to swing so as to move toward and away from the center of rotation of said second segmental gear in its movement in one direction and means for swinging said arm.

4. In an apparatus 0'! the class described the combination of a sole applying mechanism comprising a table top and shoe upper holding means "provided in a predetermined position relative'to said table top, a pressure plate mounted to swing toward and away from said shoe upper holding means, a pressure block yieldingly supported on.

said pressure plate, gripping fingers movable longitudinally and transversely on said pressure plate toward and away from said pressure block, means" carried by saidpressure plate for moving saidfingers so as to engage, centeriand hold a sole placed againstsaid pressure block and fixed cam means for operating said moving means when swinging said pressure plate toward said .shoe upper holding. means.

5. In an apparatus of the class described the combination of a'table top and shoe upper holding means located on said table top, a pressure plate mounted to swing toward and away. trom said shoe upperh'olding means, oppositely and longitudinally moving and oppositely and transversely movingsliding members carried by'said pressure plate, a pair of swinging levers for operating said longitudinally moving sliding members and means connecting said transversely moving sliding members with said longitudinally moving sliding members for the operation thereof by said pair of swinging levers, a stationary cam for engagement by one of said swingin levers-on the movement of said pressure plate for the simultaneous operation or all of said sliding members, and holding fingers carried by said sliding members so as to project from said pressure 7 plate.

6. In an apparatus of the class described including a sole applying mechanism comprising a tabletop and shoe upper holding means provided in a predetermined position on said table top,

a pressure plate mounted to swing toward and away from saidshoe upper-holding means, holding fingers movable laterally onsaid pressure plate and yielding. supporting means for said holding fingers to cause them to yield when brought into contact gvith the shoe upper holdhis means.

ans-arrow. nmm. 

